Southern California -- this just in

GOP official who sent Obama chimpanzee email: 'I am not a racist'

April 19, 2011 | 6:45
am

An Orange County Republican Party official who sent an email that portrays President Obama's face superimposed on a chimpanzee with the words: "Now you know why -- No birth certificate!" apologized for her action but insisted she's not a racist.

The comments of Marilyn Davenport, an elected member of the party's central committee, marks a turnaround for the official, who over the weekend described the controversy as "much to-do about nothing."

County GOP Chairman Scott Baugh has called for Davenport to resign, saying the email was "dripping with racism and is in very poor taste."

"The California Republican Party believes the actions in question are completely unacceptable," California Republican Party Chairman Tom Del Beccaro added in a statement Sunday.

In an interview with the OC Weekly on Monday, Davenport said: "I wasn't wise in sending the email out. I shouldn't have done it. I really wasn't thinking when I did it. I had poor judgment." She added: I am not a racist, but I do think I need to apologize again with different words."

In a statement over the weekend, Davenport had said "in no way did I even consider the fact he's half black when I sent out the email. In fact, the thought never entered my mind until one or two other people tried to make this about race."